Sola-Scriptura and Judaism
Thursday, October 15, 2015
This is a response to a Christian who affirms his own ideology of sola-scriptura and asked why Judaism is not based upon the same principle rather follows a legal process called "Oral Law." This is my response that I wrote and decided to share so others will also have this understanding...
The Torah is a product of the Mosaic revelation on Sinai and was subsequently written and edited by scholars and scribes who crafted the 5 book document that we possess today (Genesis-Deuteronomy). This 5 book document is called the Torah, which means Teaching (not Law). The Torah is the fundamental and most important document in Judaism because it is the Constitution of the Jewish people. As a Constitution it lays down the basic outline of the Jewish purpose, identity, it sets up the parameters for legislation, laws related to most every aspect of life, describes the calendar, holidays, agricultural seasons, welfare services, etc.
The Torah is not an exhaustive document rather it is a concise declaration of fundamental principles which were to govern Israelite society. The need for practical application of the Torah's commands was not always evident, especially in unforeseen or changing circumstances. Thus the Torah was interpreted according to the needs of individual cases, various times and locations that the original Torah didn't foresee. Over the many generations spanning thousands of years the legislations surrounding the Torah have become immense and varied. This is closely akin to the political and legislative process of the United States wherein you have a fundamental document called the Constitution and you have legislative branches in the government consisting of local, region and national authorities. These authorities have the varying responsibilities of establishing laws based on a Constitutional interpretation and subsequently imposing and enforcing those laws. Regardless of whether the citizens approve of all of these laws or not is irrelevant because the United States is a Republic and the law always trump personal opinion and preference. Jewish Law is a close parallel to this entire process as it possesses a fundamental Constitution (Torah) and a tradition of legislation of legal interpretation, debate, enactment and enforcement. This process of legal development in Judaism in called Torah Sheba'a'l Peh (Oral Torah).
